Beyond right-to-work, lots of new laws take effect

Macomb Daily staff photo by David Dalton
Daphne Mannino, a New Haven High student, tries not to make a habit out of talking on a cellphone while driving. Some young drivers will be banned from doing so as of today. Dillon Peyer is Mannino’s passenger.

Michigan’s highly controversial right-to-work law takes effect Thursday, but there are dozens of other changes in statutes on the horizon that will affect nearly every state resident.

Thursday marks 90 days after the end of the 2012 legislative session, when “lame duck” lawmakers passed 282 bills in the final weeks of December.

Among the new laws: a ban on teen drivers using hand-held cellphones while behind the wheel, a requirement that police videotape any conversations with criminal suspects, and a prohibition on insurers using a person’s credit information to deny or cancel a personal insurance policy.

One law that takes effect Thursday but will have a major gradual impact on cities and townships is the phase-out of $600 million in property taxes that businesses annually pay on machinery and equipment.

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In Macomb County, this personal property tax generates about $50 million annually and six municipalities — Warren, Sterling Heights, Fraser, Roseville, Shelby Township and St. Clair Shores — will each lose more than $1 million.

The state would reimburse 80 percent of losses for services such as police and fire protection in towns that depend on PPT dollars. Local governments could levy a special assessment to recoup the rest.

As for the right-to-work law, it makes Michigan, once the leader of the U.S. labor movement, the nation’s 24th right-to-work state. The new statute has sparked lawsuits and generated some hardball politics in the state Capitol. Republican lawmakers have threatened to withhold millions of grant dollars to school districts, community colleges and universities that have adopted long-term labor contract extensions to dodge and delay the effects of right-to-work.

Union members across the state were urged by labor leaders to wear red today as a show of solidarity in opposition to right-to-work, which allows workers at union shops to stop paying dues but to continue enjoying union wages, benefits and protections.

Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel rejected a proposed 8-year contract extension for county employees when the unions declined to discuss any other issues except the continuation of mandatory union dues. Legal issues also complicated the 10 days of negotiations.

It’s simple. We need to have collective bargaining. I … would never sign anything without a vote of the (rank-and-file) employees,” said Hackel, a Macomb Township Democrat.

At the Midland-based Mackinac Center, a conservative research group, they are celebrating the right-to-work law after advocating for such a move for Michigan over the past two decades. The Mackinac Center pointed out that some political observers never envisioned Michigan becoming a right-to-work state and as recently as 2009, the state House overwhelmingly rejected a right-to-work bill by a vote of 69-35, with 14 Republicans joining the opposition.

A group known as Union Conservatives will hold an awards dinner in Livonia tonight to salute Gov. Rick Snyder and key legislators who made the right-to-work law a reality. Dick Posthumus, a senior adviser to the governor, will accept the award on Snyder’s behalf.

“Freedom to Work was just a hopeful dream to thousands of union members in Michigan until leaders in Lansing, other nonprofit groups and thousands of individuals in the community stepped up to the plate to do what was best for all Michigan residents,” said the group’s president, Terry Bowman, a UAW member, in an email to the organization’s members. “We want to publicly acknowledge some of them and grant awards to say ‘thank you’ for helping provide freedom and choice to Michigan’s 629,000 union member workforce.”

Michigan’s teen drivers should know that one of their favorite pastimes, talking on a cellphone while driving, is banned as of Thursday, with a few limited exceptions.

Kelsey’s Law is named after 17-year-old Kelsey Raffaele of Sault Ste. Marie. Kelsey was killed in a car accident in 2010. At the time of the crash, she was speaking on a cellphone.

The law applies to teenage-drivers who have Level 1 and Level 2 Michigan drivers’ licenses under the Secretary of State’s “graduated” licensing system. The system eventually removes driving restrictions placed on young drivers as they gain experience behind the wheel and demonstrate a safe-driving history.

“We are confident that this new traffic safety law will save lives,” said Nancy Cain, AAA Michigan spokeswoman. “Numerous studies have shown that new teen drivers are far more likely to be involved in cellphone-related crashes than older, more experienced drivers. We strongly supported passage of this bill.”

Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham weighed in with his support of Kelsey’s Law.

“To reduce the distractions for young drivers benefits all of us,” he said.

The sheriff said his deputies won’t necessarily target young drivers, but will enforce Kelsey’s Law the same as all the other Michigan traffic laws.

Dillon Teyerk, a New Haven High School junior and holder of a Level 2 license, admitted he “occasionally” speaks on his cellphone while behind the wheel.

The implementation of Kelsey’s Law will change his habits, he said.

“I don’t want (a ticket),” Teyerk said. “I’m going to set a lock or just turn it off every time I get in my car.”

His classmate, Daphne Manino, also confessed to “occasional” cellphone use while driving. The prohibition might make her wait five minutes to speak with her friends, but won’t adversely affect her life.

“No it won’t,” she said. “It’s (a) good (law).”

The law carves out exceptions for voice-operated systems and in emergencies involving a traffic accident or a crime.

The new law for “custodial interrogation” requires police departments to video and audio record any interview of any person under police custody, typically an arrest, and charged with a crime carrying a 20-year sentence or greater, as long as the department is armed with the proper equipment as outlined by the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards. The state Legislature is expected to later approve funding for departments to comply, although officials said funding should not be an obstacle due to the relative minimal costs.

Other new laws that emerged from the Legislature’s “lame duck” session tighten up voting rules, recall elections and medical marijuana regulations.

Another law on the books creates a new emergency financial manager statute to allow a state-appointed EFM to take control of a financially failing city or school district. That legislative action was made necessary after voters in November struck down the emergency manager law that was put into place earlier in Snyder’s term of office.